Background
Swofford was born on December 6, 1948 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Swofford was born on December 6, 1948 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Bachelor in Psychology and Industrial Relations, University North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1971. Master in Athletic Administration, Ohio University, 1973.
While at Wilkes Central High School, he played as quarterback for the Wilkes Central Eagles football team and was twice selected to the all-state football team He was awarded a prestigious Morehead Scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also played for the football team He holds a master"s degree in Sports Management from Ohio University.
From 1980 to 1997 he was the athletic director for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In 1997 Swofford was named the Commissioner of the Administrative Committee on Company-ordination. During his tenure he has doubled the Administrative Committee on Company-ordination"s annual revenue, served as Chairman of the Bowl Championship Series in college football in 2000 and 2001, and expanded the Administrative Committee on Company-ordination to include Boston College, Virginia Technical, the University of Miami, the University of Pittsburgh, Syracuse University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Louisville by 2014. Swofford is the brother of William Oliver Swofford (1945–2000), a popular singer professionally known as Oliver who performed from the late 1960s through the late 1970s.
Swofford and his family live in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the Administrative Committee on Company-ordination has its headquarters. On October 22, 2014, a report produced by Kenneth L. Wainstein was released, which reported that 3,100 students took no-show or “paper” classes between 1993 and 2011, which overlaps with Swofford"s tenure as Athletic Director by four years.
An excerpt from the report states, "These counselors saw the paper classes and the artificially high grades they yielded as key to helping some student-athletes remain eligible.".
Married Nora Swofford. Children: Amie, Chad, Autumn.